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International Media Forum recommendations

By Louise Marsland

26 Sep 2006

In his summing up at the International Media Forum in Johannesburg last week, Caxton Professor: Journalism and Media Studies at Wits, Anton Harber, said the timing of the conference was "serendipitous" and had yielded true progress in building relationships. A full report and recommendations from the conference on the way forward will be released later this year. Harber underlined the key issues emanating from discussions.

Harber said the mood and tone of discussions was notable, with a cooperative spirit of discussion emerging over the two days, particularly between the foreign media and Government which usually engaged in "finger-pointing" at each other.

It was also striking that journalists, editors and media people who participated as speakers, did it with caring consideration for the various issues. There was more of a "tone of engagement" said Harber. He acknowledged Minister Essop Pahad who gave up his speaker position to sit and listen.

The cynical notions of foreign journalists' lack of reporting on Africa were challenged, as the fuller, more nuanced story of reporting on the continent was revealed.

"There are very noticeable signs of a rising tide of interest in Africa," said Harber and it was a loss of opportunity for those media groups that did not participate.

Other main issues that were highlighted, were:

A need to the recognise challenges and constraints journalists face in covering Africa. There was an appeal for an understanding of the scope.

Critical points were made about professionalism among Government communicators (many of whom seem to be out of the loop with their principles). There is a need to raise the priority of Government communicators and the importance of their work.

The role of business/the private sector in working with Government on improving communications and promoting communications was also seen as very important.

New media challenges in promoting coverage of South Africa and Africa through: blogging, citizen journalism, mobile media, and so on.

"The organisers of the International Media Forum have caught an interesting wave. It is clear there is overwhelming agreement to return and assess progress made," said Harber.

For more information on the conference, log on www.internationalmediaforum.com.

Louise Burgers

About Louise Marsland

Louise Burgers (previously Marsland) is Founder/Content Director: SOURCE Content Marketing Agency. Louise is a Writer, Publisher, Editor, Content Strategist, Content/Media Trainer. She has written about consumer trends, brands, branding, media, marketing and the advertising communications industry in SA and across Africa, for over 20 years, notably, as previous Africa Editor: Bizcommunity.com; Editor: Bizcommunity Media/Marketing SA; Editor-in-Chief: AdVantage magazine; Editor: Marketing Mix magazine; Editor: Progressive Retailing magazine; Editor: BusinessBrief magazine; Editor: FMCG Files newsletter. Web: www.sourceagency.co.za.